Interview with Giovanni Turolla: the roots of His Work that allowed Luxelt to reach Its First 15 Years of activity.

Let's start the New Year with an interview with Mr. Giovanni Turolla, Co-founder of our company. Since 2009, we've been located in Calco, in the province of Lecco, focusing on the design and production of electronic boards for various sectors

 

How and when did you first come into contact with electronics?

I was accustomed to seeing my father fixing radios. It fascinated and intrigued me. Although he didn't have specific expertise in the field, like me, he was always curious and determined to understand how everyday objects were made and how they functioned.

One Christmas, my parents gave me my first electronics lab, a kit with different experiments to try, and I began building radios, amplifiers, power supplies, and oscillator circuits.

As a teenager, I built a repeater for a free radio station that I managed with friends and colleagues; I achieved this by reading various publications from those who had done it before me. I did the same for many devices that I built myself: I collected components from friends who already worked in electronics companies, and I visited fairs where surplus components were sold. I gathered wherever I could because at the time electronic components were expensive, and financial resources were limited.

 

What were your first work experiences? What did you do?

 

After graduating as an electrical engineering technician, I started working as an apprentice in a radio and TV repair laboratory. Later, I worked for a large company as a masterist, designing printed circuits. At that time, layouts were done in a 4:1 scale on sheets divided into inches since there were no software available. We used transferable elements like dots and adhesive lines, which represented the components and circuit tracks. These circuits were commissioned by a satellite manufacturing company, and I created the masters based on the schematics provided by the designer. One particular electronic board was used in the construction of the rocket for the Ariane program, which facilitated the launching of telecommunication satellites into orbit.

 

 

When did you decide to open Luxelt in 2009, what goals and visions did you have? Have they been achieved over these 15 years?

Luxelt was born to build a brand that encompassed the know-how of my individual company, Turolla Giovanni. The goal was to continue designing and producing electronic boards, introducing for the first time the new LED technology for residential use, as it allowed for energy savings. The first LED lighting project was for under-cabinet lamps.

Both objectives have been achieved, considering, for example, the widespread adoption of LED lamps and the large quantity of electronic boards we have designed and produced over the years

 

What is your vision of the future in the electronics world?

Electronics was born to solve problems. Today, it seems to me that sometimes the electronics produced is not necessary. I refer, for example, to new technologies for Artificial Intelligence: are they really indispensable? These are technologies that frighten me. If I think they could help us in medical research, in studying the Universe, that fascinates me. But if I think instead that they could replace humans, then I believe it's the worst thing we could think of doing.

A designer should always keep in mind that they have a great responsibility for what they invent: if something doesn't work, people's lives are at risk, and not just that.

Yes to useful electronics, which can help. For example, many years ago I participated in the design of a device to be inserted on a sheet metal cutting machine, which would stop the machine if sensors detected even the slightest movement within the cutting area. This project ensured the safety of the operators.

Over the years, I have adopted a very simple concept of electronics, passed down to me by a superior: it is important to design well; the circuit must be reliable, with the fewest possible components, because the component that isn't there cannot fail either.

 

A pleasant, enjoyable, and educational memory at Luxelt?

When we held our first trade show. People came with curiosity to discover the world of LED lighting. We provided a lot of training because we always believed in the energy-saving potential of this technology.

 

A less pleasant memory from these years at Luxelt.

In fifteen years of activity, we have encountered many people who have tried to appropriate information without attributing the proper value to our work.

Copied products, stolen projects, and missed payments are part of the working world and are not so uncommon.

It is disappointing to work on a project for so long, only for the client to decide to have the circuit produced by someone else after the work is completed and the sample delivered, or they backtrack because they failed to communicate their needs accurately or even because they no longer have the resources to proceed.

However, from many losses of time and resources, electronic boards have emerged that are now being commercialized and meeting the demands of other clients and markets, precisely because we continued to believe in the value of the time we dedicated to them.

 

A piece of advice for the new generations of designers?

Don't just study software! To be sought after by companies, you need to study electronics. Specialize in analog electronics, especially power electronics. Then, delve into digital electronics, which doesn't hurt either.

 

MEMORABLE PROJECTS: the most beautiful project before Luxelt and during these 15 years of Luxelt.

The most beautiful project was the first 800KVA UPS: it powered all the computers of a British bank. A great project. We were also the first to pair the UPS with a wind generator.

Then there were the power supplies for laser diodes for electromedical devices: there was nothing like it on the market. Machines for physiotherapy, surgical lasers, veterinary use. A Xenon lamp for permanent hair removal, one of the first machines: it was very engaging to work as a team with the client and collaborators who were specialized in biology and dermatology.

In Luxelt, the most interesting project was the one developed during the pandemic: it was a system that allowed dispensing sanitizing liquid when the user's hand approached. The challenge was to make the sensor unaffected by disturbances and differences in ambient brightness. It's a board that is currently on the market, and we see that it attracts the attention of customers from other sectors and for applications different from the one for which this product was designed.